


I'm Not Okay With This

by PtAtomic78



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PtAtomic78/pseuds/PtAtomic78
Summary: (Commissioned by a lovely person from tumblr, they created the idea!) Kara is new to earth after fleeing Krypton at the age of sixteen where she ends up in the town of Brownsville. While pretending to be a human teenager with amnesia problems, Kara is fostered into the Danvers family which brings about its own challenges forming a sibling relationship with Alex. The second challenge is high school, but it's not all bad because Kara makes friends with Lena Luthor who is new to the school too. But as time goes on from the moment she reaches earth, Kara realises that earth is changing her and giving her abilities and the worst thing of all they terrify her! *Inspired by the Netflix TV Show I'm Not Okay With This*
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Winn Schott Jr., Lena Luthor/James "Jimmy" Olsen
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone I just want to reiterate that I did not come up with this idea. I was given the idea and information and asked to write it for a really love person on tumblr. If you might also be interested in commissioning me to write some fanfic, please see my bio link or drop me a message here. Thanks.

Over sixteen years was the length of time that Kara had spent on Krypton. She was born there, she grew up and lived there, and she made friends there. She never imagined any other planet being home than the planet of Krypton, though she knew other planets existed, and other species. 

But the very ground that she had walked on without fear for so long was beginning to shake and tremor as she ran with her mother. “We’re evacuating people where we can,” explained her mother Alura as they ran together.

“I don’t want to go, I’ll stay with you,” said Kara. 

“This planet will cease to be inhabitable. Everyone still on it will die. It is going to be destroyed, Kara,” said her mother as she briefly stopped to explain. “I might be able to deal with that...if I know I’ve sent you somewhere safe.”

Kara looked away. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. 

Alura took her daughter’s hand in her’s, firmly grasping it to stop her pulling away, and she led her to where a pod was docked. 

“What about you?” asked Kara. 

“I love you with all my heart,” Alura said and kissed Kara’s forehead. “Now I need to tell you something. There’s no time to argue with me. You are going to earth.”

“But Earth isn’t…”

“Isn’t alien aware, or advanced. I know, I know,” said Alura. “But I’ve made many enemies and you’ll be safer there. No one will think of you being there. You could have a new life. So you will need to blend in. You cannot tell anyone who you are or they will hurt you. But if you are just a girl… they’ll be kind to you.”

Kara didn’t have time to wonder what her mother meant by having enemies because Alura had opened up the pod and was trying to urge her inside it. “It’s time for you to go,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Where is father?”

“He can’t be here, it’s just us, please Kara don’t argue. There’s no time,” said Alura, pleading with her voice for Kara to listen. 

With shaking hands, Kara grabbed onto the frame of the pod to climb in. When she sat down the pod closed over its roof, and Kara turned her head to look at her mother one last time before the pod took off, fleeing through the self-destructing planet that had been her home.


	2. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara has made it to earth but now she must find her way.

Kara climbed out of the pod, her knees adorning some cuts and scrapes. She looked around where she had landed; in the middle of a forest. The trees around her were damaged and some branches were on fire. 

She turned and took one last look at the pod, tears running down her cheeks as she inhaled a shaky breath. 

Then, she set the pod to self-destruct. 

A pang of self regret did wash over her for doing that; because it was her only link left to home. But she had to hide that she was an alien. No one could know that she was not from earth. 

As she walked away from the pod while it counted down to its own destruction, she kept telling herself two things over and over in her head like a mantra. 

You cannot go home, home is gone. The pod was damaged upon entering the atmosphere. You cannot go home, home is gone. The pod was damaged upon entering the atmosphere. 

She tried to keep staring in front of her as she walked away from the pod. She couldn’t look back. If she looked back, she’d break. 

It was one thing acknowledging what she had to do, but seeing it happen would just be the confirmation that her planet was gone and that her mother and father was gone; that everything and everyone was gone. Except her. 

She heard the explosion of the pod. By that time, it was a five minute walk away and she was deep into her survivor’s guilt, wondering why she was allowed to live and they weren’t. 

With another heavy sigh, she approached a tall tree with a large wide trunk. She stared at her, gritting her teeth and as her breathing became heavy. 

“ARGHHHHHHHHH!” she roared until her throat burned and then she punched the tree, adding more injury to herself than what had happened to her upon landing in the pod. Like the scrapes and bruises from her landing, the damage to her knuckles was superficial. 

“Ahhhh!” she yelled out, again, in anguish before kicking a stone on the forest ground, the stone hitting another tree. She repeated and kicked another stone. Then another. Until she broke down into sobs.

She slid down against the tree she had used as a punch bag only moments before, running a hand through her soot covered hair. 

She began to wipe the soot residue that had transferred to her hands onto her dress before allowing herself to sniffle. 

But as she sat there other worries began to cloud her mind. She had not prepared for this situation and she was alone. She would need food soon; and shelter of some kind. 

She hit her head backwards against the tree and looked up to the stars; and as she stared at the balls of gas that were illuminating the planet that night, an infinity of what-ifs began to plague her mind. 

What if mother and father did get out? What if they’re on a different planet now? What if they are going to come and get me? What if they come to get me and can’t find me? 

All of her what-ifs featured the survival of her parents and all of them justified her staying put and staring to the sky with the last bit of hope she had left but she was exhausted and there was only so long she could keep her eyes open and to the sky until her own body began to put itself to sleep. 

***

The tweeting of birds was what woke up Kara the next morning. She looked at one of them that was nearby her in amazement. They had creatures where she was from but none that looked like the one in front of her. She sat up and watched it peck at the ground for a little while before reaching out. As soon as she did that, it noticed her and flew away in fear. 

A little disappointed, she climbed up to her feet and looked around. The forest was just as confusing as it had been in the dark and the only logical reasoning that had sprung to her mind was to keep going in the direction she had been going at night. 

She was cold, hungry, her body ached, and an urge to urinate was beginning to irritate her. She needed to find somewhere to take care of herself soon. 

And after walking for what seemed like an age, Kara found herself at a road. It went in between the forest of trees she had been lost in. It was an indication, an indication to where she might find better shelter and food; and most likely civilisation.

She had only been walking another five minutes when a loud noise made her jump. It was from the horn of a car. 

She turned her body around quickly and saw the car pull up, though she didn’t know that’s what it was called. The word Police was on the car and it had lights on the top of the roof. 

Kara stared at the car, and the two policemen getting out of it, with amazement, curiosity, and trepidation all at once. 

They looked kryptonian and to them, she looked human. 

Kara took a step back as the younger male of the two policemen stepped towards her. “Easy there,” said the older one as though he was speaking to a startle deer. “Are you alright there? We’re here to check out an explosion that happened here last night.” he said. “You look hurt.”

“Her hair is covered in soot sir,” said the younger officer. “Fires and explosions, they disperse soot. Sometimes I mean.”

“I can see that Myers, I don’t need a running commentary. Let me talk to the girl!” said the older officer sharply, his tone indicating that he distrusted the intelligence of his younger partner.

He shook his head and stepped forward a little. “Do you know what’s going on? Where I might find the source of this explosion? I’m guessing you were close to something burning. Like what this one here said.”

Kara swallowed. They were enforcers of law and order, she was beginning to gather. She was scared. What would happen to her if they thought she did something wrong? She wondered if they’d hurt her. What was justice like on earth? What was justice like on earth for an alien? 

“I...uhhh...I don’t know,” she said, her head shaking a little. 

“What’s your name?” asked the older officer, deciding to ask her an easy question. “I’m Sergeant March. But you can call me Nick if you like.”

“I’m… my name is Kara,” Kara uttered out. She had not spoken to a single person since saying goodbye to her mother and as much as she craved contact, with anyone, and as much as she also needed help, she was unsure about the strangers in front of her. 

“Kara. That’s a very nice name. You look cold. How about we get you a blanket and you can sit in the car hmmn? I can get you to a hospital to check you’re alright and then we can see about contacting your parents. I’m sure they’re worried about you.”

She swallowed and the younger office went to the back of the car, taking out a brown blanket which he passed to the older officer. He stepped forward and handed it to her. 

Kara ran a hand over the blanket. It was soft and warm and an inviting accessory after a night in the forest. She wrapped the blanket around her and stepped forward, the older officer putting a gentle hand on her back and leading her to the car. 

***

Kara sat in the break room of the police station, her eyes fixated on watching people coming in and out using the coffee machine. She was trying to learn how things worked and fast. She had to appear normal. 

For the mean time though she had developed a strategy of saying ‘I don’t know’ in reply to things, or even going so far as to not saying anything at all. They were viewing her as a vulnerable person and because of that they were wanting to help her and Kara knew that she’d have to keep that up. 

The medical experts at the hospital told the police that they thought she had amnesia from some sort of trauma but she had no injuries to cause concern. They sent her onward and the police took her to the station, giving her some clothes which consisted of a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans that were in the lost and found. 

“Hey Kara,” said Nick, the sergeant who had found her. He brought her in a little packet with two triangle halves of a sandwich inside. He had also brought her some water. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Thank you,” said Kara quietly. 

“So we’re trying to find out if anyone’s reported someone of your description missing. But we’ve also contacted social work. It’s standard procedure. Do you know how old you are?”

“I...I’m alive sixteen years,” she said. She realised that her confident answer did not play too much into the memory loss charade and it was a charade she knew she had to keep up going forward no matter what. She had already told them her name.

She cleared her throat and shifted in her chair. “I mean I think I… I think sixteen...I don’t know but… I think,” she stammered. She pointed to her head. “It’s, the numbers… I don’t know.”

“Well for minors it’s standard procedure to contact social work, especially where parents are not reachable or contactable,” said Nick. “But I’m sure we’ll find your family. And once you do you might start remembering things.” 

“Where am I?” Kara asked. 

“You’re in the station,” said Nick. 

“No I mean where's this place? Where am I?” she asked. “What part of earth is this?”

He could see she was unsure and a little distressed. He looked at her, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you have something to drink and eat first and I’ll go get you a map.” He decided that a visual aid might be the way to go for her. 

***

He pointed to the map. “So we’re in the state of Pennsylvania, and this is our town here: this is Brownsville,” he said, drawing a red circle on the map. “Does any of this seem or look familiar to you?” 

Kara wished that she had done more research on the earth before now but she hadn’t. It was never a requirement. It was just a planet people talked about at the end of a sentence, but they had learned many of their languages on Krypton in preparation that one day earth might travel and need to communicate. But looking at the map, she didn’t recognise where she was. So she wasn’t really lying when she shook her head. 

“Well you kids all have your iphones now so none of you can use a map that doesn’t talk to you,” said the police officer. “Don’t worry you’re gonna be fine, kid.”

Kara was not so sure that she would be fine. The sergeant shot her an apologetic look before getting up and leaving the break room. 

Her eyes followed him as he left, and the walls of the room became transparent, and somewhat textureless as she saw outside to the communal working area. 

Her head hurt and she was beginning to hear music loudly in her ears. She could hear voices too, including the sergeant’s. They were talking about her, and that they wondered if she had anything to do with the reports of the explosion in the forest. Someone was complaining about how, in their words, “shit” the coffee machine in the break room was. Another person was reporting a missing relative.

The problem was, it all was happening at once. It was an auditory overload for her and she couldn’t take it. That alone would be enough to send someone cowering away but she couldn’t stop her eyes, like they were zooming in and seeing through walls and objects. She could see inside cars driving past outside. One of the cars had a girl who dropped her soft toy. 

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” she screamed, knocking over the table she was sitting at. 

When it stopped, she was on the ground and shaking in the corner of the break room. A deep shaky breath escaped her as she tried to get used to her surroundings again. 

And then she heard someone clearing their throat, making her heart begin to race. 

She looked to see someone with buds in their ears that were attached to wires. They took the buds out and looked at her and once again Kara heard the music but it was quieter. 

“You okay there?” the guy with the music playing buds asked. “What happened here?”

Kara was not okay. She had lost her family. She had lost her planet. And now she was pretty sure she was losing her mind. 

What in the name of Rao had just happened? She wondered.


	3. Chapter Two: Cutting the Red Tape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter. I'm so excited with this fic and really enjoying writing this.

Kara was seated in a quieter room at the station. After she had knocked over the table in the break room, they didn’t think an area with people coming and going was the best idea in case she had underlying issues. 

The problem was, however, that in such a small police building; the only room that gave her solitude was the interrogation room - or as the sergeant who led her to it called it; to sugarcoat it; “the interview room”. 

A tear slipped down her cheek. She wasn’t sure this was what her mother had planned when she was sent her to earth. Her mind wandered back to her mother and she began to wonder about her mother’s comment just before they parted. How did her mother have enemies? And why was earth the safest place from them? 

The door opened and a woman walked in, wielding a briefcase. She was dressed in a pencil skirt and tailored suit jacket. Her hair was tidily put up in a bun. Kara’s eyes examined her, the woman beginning to look at Kara with the same curiosity as Kara was looking at her which was disconcerting because Kara certainly wasn’t looking at the woman with any warmth. 

“Kara… are you sure that’s your name?” the woman asked before sitting down. “Because you don’t seem to be sure of much else. What makes you think your name is Kara?”

“Are you…” began Kara, pausing to think what the law enforcement people were called. “A Police?” 

“No, I'm a social worker. My name is Emily Gretchen. I’m here to ascertain what to do with you from this point onward. Police are unable to locate your parents but given your insistence on memory loss that’s no surprise…”

The door opened again and a man stepped in, dressed in a suit and carrying a notebook and pen. “I’m Doctor Henshaw. I’m here to evaluate the patient. Amnesia can be a difficult time. Not just neurologically but psychologically.” 

“I did not request a psychologist,” said the social worker. 

“Well your superiors did,” said Henshaw. 

“I’m going to call them immediately,” said the social worker before storming out. 

“She’s aggressive,” said Kara to Doctor Henshaw. 

Henshaw sat down and opened up a notebook. His notes inside it were in shorthand but to Kara; it was a strange language she hadn’t seen before. 

“What language is that?” asked Kara. 

“It’s shorthand. Not many people actually know it these days. The use of electronics kind of put a stop to that. Now Miss...Sorry you don’t know your surname do you?” 

“I don’t know anything,” said Kara sadly. “I don’t know where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do.”

“Must be scary,” said Doctor Henshaw. He leaned back in his chair. “You think your name is Kara?”

She nodded. 

“What were you doing before the police found you Kara?”

“I was walking,” said Kara. “I was… lost. I didn’t know where I was.” 

“Where did you come from before that?”

“I was lost,” she said again. 

“Do you remember anything before the police picked you up. Before you were on that road?” 

“I was lost,” she repeated once more. 

“I’m not interrogating you Kara. I’m trying to help you with your memory,” he said. “Or do an evaluation on you psychologically. Doing so will allow me to help you get better. I am not here to cause you any harm Kara.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” Kara asked. 

“A girl like you, no criminal record or your fingerprints would flag you up in the system. You’d probably be taken to a group home or put into foster care,” he said. “That’s where a family will take you in as one of theirs. You’d go to school, you’d have clothes. Necessities like that. You’re still a child Kara… and you need support and not just until you’re an adult… people don’t stop needing help.”

The door opened and the social worker stepped in. “I… just need my briefcase… I wasn’t aware that a psychologist would be taking such an active role in an at risk child.” 

“I’ve not decided I am needed yet. I’d wait outside,” said Henshaw. 

The social worker went to speak but she held her tongue. Henshaw watched her leave and then looked at Kara. “Here’s what I think Kara. I think you’re scared of something. You don’t want to tell me the truth,” he said, Kara hugging herself. “If it’s so important to keep whatever you’re keeping secret, it’s my professional opinion that you do. Even from any new family you might get put into.” 

“What did you mean that you've not decided that you’re needed?” asked Kara. 

Doctor Henshaw stood up and looked at her. “I only take interest in very specific clients. I’ve not determined if you meet the criteria yet or not.”

His phone went off suddenly, playing a very boring ringtone. He answered it. “Henshaw….” he greeted the caller, turning away from Kara who was looking at the bruises she had. When she had first come into the station, she was sure she had more. Maybe she was just tired. There was a lot going on. 

“I see,” he said to the person he was on the phone to, before turning to Kara. “Kara… you meet my criteria.”

He ended his call and sat back down. 

“How do you know?” Kara asked. 

“That’s not important for you,” said Doctor Henshaw. “So let me walk you through what’s going to happen. You’ll be found a family here in Brownsville, you’ll be enrolled in a school there, you’ll be given a very normal life that all kids want or at least deserve to have. I don’t normally tell people like you this but you’re very lucky. I’ll be back in an hour.” 

Kara folded her arms. She didn’t agree that she was lucky. She did not feel very lucky at all. Lucky indeed. Her planet was destroyed and her family were gone. He had no idea how unlucky she was. 

***

“I just don’t understand how a psychologist has so much power over this individual's case. You're merely an advisory role at best,” said the social worker, Emily, as she approached Doctor Henshaw who was going to his car. 

“As I told your superiors and I’m sure they’ve told you; you need not have any concerns,” said Doctor Henshaw. 

“This is my case; I’ve concerns. Did I hear you right when I went into the observation room? You’re just going to find this girl a family? She never seemed annoyed or worried by that. Is that not a little suspicious? Now; even if she has amnesia, surely she wants to know who she is. Who she was. Not get thrown in with new people.”

“I assure you that these questions are now in my hands,” said Doctor Henshaw. “My priority is her safety and well being.”

“You are skeptical she has amnesia yourself. I can tell. The girl is hiding something. It could be problematic to her, or someone else, or both.”

“And those are issues that I’ll address,” said Henshaw. “But you won’t. I’m sure you’ll be a great help to the next child who turns up out of nowhere.” 

Emily stared at Henshaw sternly as he got into his car before turning around and storming away. 

***  
Later that day…

Kara was led by Doctor Henshaw to the front door of a moderately sized house. By Brownsville standards at least. Kara hugged herself as Doctor Henshaw knocked on the dark blue door. It was best to let him do the talking, she reasoned. 

The door opened and a man and woman were there to greet them. “Hello there Mr and Mrs Danvers. This is Kara. I want to thank you for welcoming her into your home.”

“Hello sweetheart. I know I’m not your mum but I promise you’re going to be safe here. And maybe one day you’ll get your memory back to remember who she is.”

Kara nodded and looked up to the staircase where a girl was sitting at the top. “This is our daughter Alex,” said the man. “I’m Jeremiah.” He looked to Alex, his daughter. “Come down honey. Come and meet Kara.”

Alex did not look at all impressed. 

***

“Thank you for the clothes,” said Kara as she was eating some of the food that had been made for dinner. They were all sitting around a table near the kitchen. The place certainly seemed a lot safer than the police station. “And for the food.”

“You don’t need to thank us Kara,” said Mrs Danvers. “And Alex was going to send those clothes away anyway.”

“They look good on you,” said Alex. 

The two girls were unsure of each other. They were not going to instantly bond, Jeremiah and his wife could see. But as untrusting to her foster sister as Alex was, she wasn’t going to grudge her a few pairs of jeans she didn’t want anymore. 

“You must be exhausted,” said Jeremiah. 

“Not really,” said Kara. In fact she hadn’t felt tired since she had fallen asleep in the woods the night before. When she turned her head she caught Alex staring at her. 

“When were you placed in the foster system Kara? Did you have a family before this?” Alex asked. 

“Kara has lost her memory. She was found by the police this morning.”

“This morning huh?” Alex asked. “And you instantly got here with us. Funny that. Like a lot of red tape has been cut.”

“There’s red tape?” asked Kara. 

“It’s a figure of speech,” said Alex’ mother. “Alex why don’t you tell Kara a little bit about school. I’m sure Kara’s nervous.”

“Oh you know Alex isn’t so fond of school Eliza,” said Jeremiah. 

“So what is the red tape?” Kara asked. 

“The red tape is a bunch of criteria that needs to be met. Lots of paperwork, lots of signatures and lots of permits and judge permitted orders that allow things to work. There’s processes upon processes,” said Alex. “Yet somehow you just zoom past it all.”

“But Doctor Henshaw said I met his criteria,” said Kara. “He said that…”

“There’s no way that man is a psychologist. He’s got a really bossy voice!” said Alex. 

“Alex you’re going to frighten Kara!” scolded Eliza. 

“But I want to know what she means,” said Kara to Eliza and turned to Alex. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you should have been waiting around a lot longer before you got found a family. There’s kids in the foster system who wait forever and don’t get anyone. But here you are. It’s a little questionable why that is.” 

“You mean what’s happened here isn't normal?” asked Kara. 

“Due to her amnesia, Doctor Henshaw and ummm social work felt that Kara needed a family immediately because she was at risk.” 

“There’s lot of people at risk,” said Alex. “We don’t know the first thing about this girl. Am I the only one asking any questions?” 

Jeremiah sighed. 

“I don’t know anything about any of you either,” said Kara suddenly. She was getting upset. She wanted to go home but she didn’t have one. “I didn’t ask to be faster than anyone to get a home. I just… got here. I… did as I was told.”

Kara had tears running down from her eyes, some of them falling onto the table cloth. Alex sighed. She felt bad that the girl was crying. 

“I’m sorry,” said Alex softly. “I… I just… It wasn’t you I was… I’m sorry.”

“Alex likes to ask questions, it’s why she’s going to be a great scientist,” said Jeremiah. “But sometimes her head goes into overdrive before her empathy or compassion.” 

“Do you want to watch a movie?” asked Alex, trying to make it right. “We can make some popcorn. You’re sleeping in my room anyway. I’ll get you some pyjamas as well.”

“Okay,” said Kara, mostly wondering what popcorn was. 

***

Kara jumped back as the popcorn kernels were popping in the machine. Alex smiled at her. “It’s just the popcorn, it’s not gunfire. You’re really jumpy,” she said amused. “Did someone hurt you before?” 

“What do you mean?” Kara asked. 

“Some people get jumpy when they’ve been abused before. A lot of people who end up under social work’s radar are abused by their families.” 

“I don’t think I was,” said Kara. “I just don’t remember them.”

“Trauma could have made you forget them,” said Alex. “The only thing you’re going to remember of today though is how amazing this popcorn is.” 

“What do we do with it when it’s ready? What do they do?” Kara asked with the innocence of a small child who had never seen popcorn before. 

Alex laughed. 

“What did I say this time?” asked Kara, bemused. 

“You eat it. It’s a snack,” said Alex. “You poor thing, you’re going to get eaten alive at school.”

“What? Really? People do that?” asked Kara, horrified. 

“No it’s another figure of speech,” said Alex. “Hey how about this I promise you I won’t let anyone eat you, if you promise not to let me finish this popcorn by myself.” 

“I am really hungry,” said Kara, a little shyly. 

“That’s the spirit!” said Alex. 

Kara was kinda adorable in her own weird way and while Alex didn’t trust her, didn’t understand her, she could certainly wish her well and teach her about popcorn.


	4. Amnesiac Alien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara begins her first day of human high school. But it definitely is not smooth going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologise for the delay in this chapter being uploaded. between an exam I had to sit for university, studying, doing other work, then my health and mental health being very poor and then I lost someone to Covi-19. I've just let a lot of things slide. So I apologise so much for this delay. Here is the next chapter.

Kara hugged herself as she stood at the front of the registration class. She might as well have been in a glass case at a museum, the way everyone was looking at her. The teacher in registration seemed nice but she made kara tell the rest of the people there about herself which was a hard thing to do, given that she was trying to portray the amnesiac role. So she did the only thing she could do and say she was new to the town, and that her memory was poor. 

After the registration class, she had to make her way to her first proper class. As she gathered up the things she had been given like her timetable and map of the school, a girl approached her. She had dark brown hair and vibrant blue-green eyes. In fact, the eyes were what Kara noticed first. They were beautiful. 

“Kara,” said the girl. “That’s your name isn’t it?”

“Oh ummm yes,” said Kara before accidentally dropping her folder, map and timetable. 

The girl was crouching on the floor before Kara to help her before standing back up and passing her back her things. She had a sweet smile. 

“I’m Lena, I was new to the school a couple of weeks ago and I know what it’s like. So I wanted to let you know that I’d really like to help you,” said Lena. “I mean I’m here if you need anything or you get lost or something like that.”

“Ummm...thanks,” said Kara awardly. “I umm…”

“You said your memory was bad, if you need help remembering things like homework deadlines…”

“It’s kind of my memory… I have amnesia,” explained Kara. Lena seemed nice and non-judgemental. It felt easy to tell her that; but then Kara felt bad. It was a lie after all. “The teacher asked me to talk about myself and… I don’t know what there is to talk about.” 

“Being new is tough enough but they make you stand at the front and introduce yourself. It’s not fun,” said Lena. “I’m still relatively new myself but if you need a guide.” 

“Uhhh, yeah thank you,” said Kara. 

“What is your next class?” asked Lena and Kara began to look at her timetable. She could suddenly see the outline of her feet. The trainers she was wearing and the floor. But beyond the floor she saw the basement and a custodian listening to some music that she began to hear in her eyes. 

“Uhhhhh” groaned Kara. 

“Are you alright?” asked Lena. 

“Uhhhh just….” Kara began and winced with her eyes. When she opened them they weren’t being annoying. First the “super” hearing in the police station and now this; her eyes being weird. 

“You look like you’ve got a headache. Do you need an aspirin?” Lena asked. 

“It says I’m in meth,” said Kara. 

“You mean math,” laughed Lena. “So am I. There’s only one math class. So you’ll be in mine. Why don’t we go there. We’re running late now anyway.”

“Thank you Lena. I will...follow you,” said Kara. 

Kara followed Lena out of the registration classroom and to math where only a couple of seats at the front were. But they weren’t next to each other. Whatever comfort Kara was staring to feel with her potential new friend was thwarted by their now distancing. She ended up sitting at a table between two boys. One of them, on the right of her, leaned over to talk to her. 

“Kara isn’t it?” he asked. 

She nodded. 

“I’m Winn! I heard from someone in your registration class you’re new here. Like Lena. If you need anything just let me know,” said Winn. “I can help with anything.”

“Thank you,” said Kara. 

“Winn sit in your seat properly,” said the math teacher as he walked into the room. Turn your textbooks to page 15. Read over the page and get to work on the first set of questions and then we’ll go over them. 

Kara stared at everyone else with their textbooks. They began to open them and flick through the pages. Lena turned and looked at Kara and then made an ‘oh’ with her mouth before looking to the teacher and back to Kara before mouthing something. Kara couldn’t make out by lip reading but she didn’t need to. As she focused on Lena, she could hear what Lena was saying even though it was barely a whisper. It wasn’t to Kara. 

‘Tell the teacher’

“Ummm...I ummm… don’t have the book,” said Kara suddenly. 

“I’m sorry are you addressing me?” the teacher asked and walked up to her. 

“Ummm yes?” said Kara, but it came out like a question which made her sound a little derisive. 

Her math teacher did not like that. 

“Well first off, you don’t speak in this class without raising your hand!” 

Kara put her hand up. 

“Yes?” asked the teacher. 

“I don’t have a book,” she said, her hand still up. 

“I heard you the first time. Wait here and I’ll go and get you one.” 

“Thank you,” said Kara. 

“Why is your hand still up?” asked the teacher.

“Because you said I couldn’t speak in this class if I didn’t have it raised,” said Kara like an innocent child who had misunderstood the concept. She might as well have been. She certainly didn’t understand the concept and she had new things to learn. 

Alex ,who was sitting at the back of the class ,put her head in her hands and sighed. 

“Are you giving me back-chat, new girl?” asked the teacher. 

“I don’t know what that is,” said Kara. 

“Sir,” said Alex. “Kara doesn’t mean to sound rude or sarcastic or anything like that. She’s just…”

“Miss Danvers; I see you’re breaking the no talking without raising your hand rule,” said the teacher. “I’m finding this disruptive.”

“I’m sorry,” said Alex. “But Kara is new and she is just confused about other people’s sarcasm and…”

“Are you accusing me of being sarcastic?”

“I was giving an example. She doesn’t get sarcasm or metaphors right now. Think of her like an alien who just got to earth.”

Kara’s eyes widened. 

“That would be so cool if you were,” said Winn to her. 

“Oh ummmmm….” she uttered nervously. 

Her heart began to race. This time she could tell that Alex was joking but, seriously, it didn’t help when that was the last way she wanted people to see her. 

“Alright everyone, settle down. I’ll get you a book new girl. But I don’t want to hear another word from you for the rest of this period; understand me...alien?” the teacher said.

Kara nodded. Things were not getting easier any time soon. Already she had made up her mind; she did not like school. She did not like it one bit.


End file.
